December 09, 2012

Lame-Duck Legislative Trainwreck in Michigan

In quick succession (giving bills to legislators literally minutes before votes, giving them no time to read the bills), the lame-duck GOP majority is cramming through right-to-work legislation, legislation to prevent abortion coverage by insurance policies in the health
insurance exchange created by the Affordable Care Act and
force women to buy a separate rider for abortion coverage, and a revised emergency manager law replacing the one that voters repealed by referendum on Nov. 6. This last law would empower the state to hand over public schools (including the physical school property) to for-profit education operators.

They're really just out to wreck stuff, aren't they?

Needless to say, they wouldn't have tried to push this stuff through before the election, because the voters might've had a chance to express their feelings about such measures in short order. And they aren't going to wait until the new legislature is seated, because they lost some seats in the election, and their prospects for pushing stuff like this through wouldn't be nearly as good in January as they are right now. So they're taking advantage of their moment of maximum unaccountability to do it now.

In Michigan, they're getting ready to protest at the Capitol, and deluge their legislators with phone calls. I'm not sure what those of us who live in other states can do, but I've got one suggestion for how to treat those who vote for these bills later, if they pass: treat them like the traitors they are. When they show their faces, tell them to their face that they're worthless scum, and don't belong in civilized company. Hell, dump buckets of shit on their doorsteps from time to time. Let 'em know they are really, REALLY not wanted, that maybe they should consider moving to another state.

And if we ever have the luxury of passing geeky good-government legislation, one thing we should pass in as many states as possible is a drastically reduced lame-duck period: swear in those new legislators just 3 weeks after election day. Don't give them until the new year to make deals that few actual voters would support. And then maybe if it becomes the norm in state legislatures, we can try Congress as well.

Comments

In quick succession (giving bills to legislators literally minutes before votes, giving them no time to read the bills), the lame-duck GOP majority is cramming through right-to-work legislation, legislation to prevent abortion coverage by insurance policies in the health
insurance exchange created by the Affordable Care Act and
force women to buy a separate rider for abortion coverage, and a revised emergency manager law replacing the one that voters repealed by referendum on Nov. 6. This last law would empower the state to hand over public schools (including the physical school property) to for-profit education operators.

They're really just out to wreck stuff, aren't they?

Needless to say, they wouldn't have tried to push this stuff through before the election, because the voters might've had a chance to express their feelings about such measures in short order. And they aren't going to wait until the new legislature is seated, because they lost some seats in the election, and their prospects for pushing stuff like this through wouldn't be nearly as good in January as they are right now. So they're taking advantage of their moment of maximum unaccountability to do it now.

In Michigan, they're getting ready to protest at the Capitol, and deluge their legislators with phone calls. I'm not sure what those of us who live in other states can do, but I've got one suggestion for how to treat those who vote for these bills later, if they pass: treat them like the traitors they are. When they show their faces, tell them to their face that they're worthless scum, and don't belong in civilized company. Hell, dump buckets of shit on their doorsteps from time to time. Let 'em know they are really, REALLY not wanted, that maybe they should consider moving to another state.

And if we ever have the luxury of passing geeky good-government legislation, one thing we should pass in as many states as possible is a drastically reduced lame-duck period: swear in those new legislators just 3 weeks after election day. Don't give them until the new year to make deals that few actual voters would support. And then maybe if it becomes the norm in state legislatures, we can try Congress as well.